The URL for the non-link inclined is http://www.joshuamcampbell.com/blog. The main site there is actually my portfolio site, which I’m going to be rolling into a WordPress CMS as well, thanks to certain elements not working like they’re supposed to. That’s my new home. I’ve had great times here on this blog (and I’m going to try and find a way to move these blog posts over as an archive), but it’s time for something new, and I can’t wait to see what will be the story over there. Thanks to everyone for reading, and I’ll see you soon.

Time isn’t a straight line. It’s all… bumpy-wumpy. There’s loads of boring stuff. Like Sundays and Tuesdays and Thursday afternoons. But now and then there are Saturdays. Big temporal tipping points when anything’s possible.

-The Doctor

Ok, so I may not travel through time (damn), or save the universe on a regular basis (damn), and I may not even have a job (damn), but for some reason, that line still rings true. Since we were all kids, Saturdays were the most exciting days of the week. You could be in school, in the middle of the summer, or even graduated and an adult, but still Saturday seems to hold some promise that something incredible could happen.

It’s Saturday now where I am, but I still see Saturday as a day where I can do anything. I try to rebuild my skills on a guitar, I can write, I can decide to watch a movie. I’m in control of what that day is, and it could become anything. The only reason those are the only options currently is because it’s snowing and cold as hell. I’d rather not deal with it unless I’d have to. But still, even there, I’ve got other worlds I can visit through those books, movies and games, giving me some amazing adventures no matter what.

I’m glad to be back on the internet, though I could use a better situation than I currently seem to be in. I’ll get that out of the way now.

I’m back to being unemployed. I can’t get unemployment because I didn’t earn enough in the last three jobs I was in, but I’m still going to be setting up at WorkOne here in the next few days. Hopefully, that can defer my loans for a bit.

I’m in no way going to let that keep me down though.

I’m back on the net more than I had been previous, but it was actually to do something more productive than I’ve done in quite some time: I finally re-created my portfolio site! To add to the excitement of that, I finally have my own domain. You can find the site (which is still being worked on currently) at http://www.joshuamcampbell.com. Yes, that’s right. I’ve got a friggin’ dot com after my name. I’m officially a member of the Internet, after all these years. Keep an eye on it for updates, and at some point, a move of this blog to that site. I haven’t decided completely, but I may re-design the site every once in a while (every few months) while I don’t have a job, if I still don’t have a job for quite some time. We’ll see where it goes from here.

Otherwise, this is a new year, with all new challenges, all new plans, and all new… new waiting for me to find it. I’ve got a few plans that aren’t job related on the horizon. I’m going to participate in Script Frenzy come this April, just to see if I can get myself to do it. I’m going to be writing again for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in November, considering I missed it last year. I’m going to be working with Vickie again on the project we started late last year, hoping to have a full script ready before Script Frenzy starts. I’m in yet another personal read-a-thon this year, though I’m shrinking my goal from 52 to 45 books this year. At the pace I’m moving already, though, I could quite possibly beat that out.

This year, I’m going to do something that I haven’t done previously that needs to be done sooner rather than later: I’m going to treat myself better. I don’t eat terribly well. I don’t exercise much (not having my bike changed that quite a bit). I’m drinking more tea than I am soda any longer, but I could still probably do for cutting out soda all together. I’m normally incredibly hard on myself, too. This year I plan on making at least a micro change in each of those areas.

It’s been nearly 365 days since I started posting in this blog. A question needs to be asked now: Did I keep up with my resolutions for 2011? Let’s take a look and see:

I resolve to post in my blog at least once a day for one full
year.

Nope, that didn’t end up working out in the slightest. It’s completely my own fault that that would be the case though.

I resolve to read one book a week for a year.

Ever so close on this one, but once again, I didn’t quite make it. 47 of 52 books this year.

I resolve to create at least one concept a week, whether it be for music, a script, a short story, or anything else.

Once again, I didn’t complete this resolution. I kept up with it when I could, but when I actually had the time, I just blanked out completely.

I resolve to actually practice my scripting more by writing at least five pages a week.

This follows along the same lines as the previous thing. I had the time, I didn’t do it. A couple projects started up, but didn’t get too far (sadly).

So, when you look at that, it’s a collection of failures over and over again. At least that would be the case on the surface. In my eyes, while I didn’t end up perfectly following all that, each resolution actually lead me to something much better than I probably would’ve had the end result of otherwise. Though I didn’t blog every day (and had long swaths of time where I didn’t post), I still brought up my writing skill when I did post, and what I did post more often than not was something I felt important. It think that may have been the better thing to happen than just being able to say “I wrote every day.” I was able to define those important things, and to a degree be able to put them in coherent collections of words that every once in a very long while could mean something to someone. Though I didn’t read 52 books, I got damn close, and that in and of itself is a victory and a defeat at the exact same time. My reading speed and comprehension is so much higher than it has been in years. I can read well over 100 pages in a day and still be able to tell you everything that went on. I’ve been able to find new layers to books I had read in the past and find writers that I had never read of before and find what I love to read about. Concepts may have been few and far between, but through them, I found a few I genuinely liked and expanded them a bit. I work on them from time to time and I hope I can move further with them in the near future. I didn’t write a ton of pages of script this year, but what I did write I genuinely liked, and I’m still excited to be writing with Vickie whenever we are able to be online for more than 20 minutes at a time.

This has been a year that has caused a great lot of change in me, from my views on the world, how my brain works, my personality, my treatment of others, and how I treat myself. I’m not the best person in the world, and I absolutely will never be that person. Somehow, I actually feel like I’m a slightly better person than I had been previous, and I’m going to go into this next year to expand on what I did this year, do it better, and make myself better in the long run. Thanks for those who followed me this year. I know I’ve had moments where I’m an insufferable ass-hat. You all who made it through that and didn’t punch me deserve accolades. Some of you helped me through a few tough times, and I thank you deeply from the bottom of my heart.

This has been an absolutely amazing year, and I can’t wait to see what 2012 has in store. Thank you all for reading. I’ll start back up again tomorrow with new goals, a new start, and quite possibly the beginning of a brand new blog with a new design and name. Good night, and happy New Year.

I’ve been working my retail job for over a month now. It’s damn hard work, but I am glad to have something right now. I’m still not 100% sure if I’m still going to be there after the holidays, so I’m biding my time and hoping for the best. I’m not the biggest fan of being stuck on the blade of a knife between employed and unemployed. I kind of wish I had more consistent hours I’d work. That’s what comes with retail, though. I’m not working in the professional world right now, and it may be a while still before that can happen.

Even though I’m glad I’ve got my job, I’m really starting to miss editing quite a bit now. I love doing audio work, no question. I still remember fondly working on the Cowboy Bebop clip in my Audio II course. That is my absolute favorite project, even if there are things that never worked out like I wanted. It and the Stories of Science documentary are my two proudest moments in production work so far. I’ve got a lot more fun projects. Supernaural Searchers was actually the project I ended up having the most fun with, after having the absolute worst problems I’ve ever had on a project (full writing of a new script, complete re-casting, and a full shoot in less than 24 hours with NO lighting and a camera that was not really fit to be used). The project moved from a creepy video that I wanted to make into one of the most campy videos I’ve ever been involved with.
On all of these projects I was an editor at minimum, and time spent in a booth or studio, the lights low, and me splicing together footage for hours. Was it everything I wanted footage wise all the time? Absolutely not. Was it always easy to find the flow and character? HELL no. Honestly, those times in the booth can be the most grueling experiences you go through. Most of the time though, if you put real work into it, on the other end you had something special, something that only you and the others involved can call yours. And once an every great while, you come out with something you’re truly proud of. I really miss that. At the end of he day, I had made progress, and I felt I was able to be creative and possibly make something special. Right now, progress is not having any tubs of product to put on the floor at the end of the day.

I do my job, and I do i to the absolute best that I can. I just can’t seem to draw the satisfaction from this that I could in the editor’s chair. I said it earlier, but I want to end by saying this again. I really, genuinely miss editing.

If you’ve heard from me in the last few months while online, you’ve read some quips from twitter, my crazy fan based rantings on one forum I’m a member of, or following my reviews on Friday Night Death Slot, where I actually had a lead review yesterday. Just thought I’d let you know. I’m still in the Muncie area that I’ve been in since I was a kid, but I’m no longer unemployed. I’m at store name redacted, and so far it seems to be going well. I’m in training currently, so I’m not a full employee yet, though I’m mostly an employee.

I love this time of year. Fall (or Autumn, so someone seems to correct me with at least once a day) leaves that perfect middle ground between warm and cold, making those nights a bit longer, and giving everyone a view of what could be a new world if they are paying attention. It’s the last chances to read outside without being bothered by bees, wasps, horseflies, and yellow jackets; and the holidays begin. Yes, I know we’re near a month out from it, but I just want to state that my current favorite holiday is Halloween, and no one can convince me otherwise at this time. I’ve finally reached the point where I can watch a horror movie and not be (too) spooked, and I’m loving a good ghost story. With Halloween, you can add another aspect to those nights that can be all at once sinister and incredibly fun at the same time. You can’t do that very often any longer, and I’ve really come to enjoy that aspect.

In an interesting development, it’s started to get me to write a bit more as well. My notebook has had a lot of additions this week compared to what I’ve done in the last month, and it’s really nice to be productive at it. Coming up I’ve even got a project I’m co-writing on that I’m really excited about again. Pre-writing starts for it l this week, and I’ll keep you informed as the process goes on.

Now, I will admit that part of the writing catalyst from this week is the fact that I was turned down for another job I really truly wanted. It’s the only position in the muncie area that I’ve found that I could do within my major, so I dealt with that in the notebook. That was incredibly theraputic and I think I’ll try that more often.

One of these days I’ll update you to what’s going on with my reading (which will probably be a MONSTROUS not 56k friendly post with book covers and info from the books. I’ve had to cheat a few (smaller TED books and a script or two) because at some points I just fell an insane bit behind. More often than not though, I’m doing 300-400 page books instead of the smaller stuff. I’m liking them both, and I think I’m better off for doing this challenge.

Time for me to crack open a book, cry over the Colts loss at home today, and write my ass off. You all take care walking the internet at night, and I’ll see ya the next time I see ya.